Striped glass and method for preventing condensation

ABSTRACT

A top cover includes a display area formed in at least part of the top cover for permitting an individual to view a product disposed beneath the top cover. A plurality of individual reflective members are positioned on the display area. By applying heat to the individual reflective members the temperature of the display area is selectively increased for preventing the formation of moisture that tends to condense on the inside or the outside of the top cover. Thus, a consumer is enabled to view the product disposed beneath the top cover. The individual reflective members may be made of a dark color on a top surface with either a reflective lower surface or with a dark color on the lower surface. The reflective lower surface will prevent heat from being radiated while a dark lower surface will permit heat to be radiated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/498,645 filed on Aug. 29, 2003 the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference and priority is claimed under 35 USC119(e).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to a cover for a container that may beconstructed of clear plastic or glass or a combination of a metal framewith a glass or plastic viewing window. The cover is used for displayingeither hot or cold food products without condensing moisture forming onthe clear plastic or glass or the viewing window that would prevent anindividual from seeing the food.

2. Description of Background Art

Hithertofore, containers that are utilized at a salad bar for displayingfood normally includes a metal, clear plastic or glass cover that isrequired to be removed to permit an individual to see the food in thecontainer. The clear plastic or glass cover or the metal cover with aviewing window has a problem relating to moisture condensing on theinside or the outside of the clear plastic or glass or the viewingwindow that prevents an individual from seeing the food. Thus, the covermust be removed and set aside to permit an individual to remove foodfrom the container. This produces an unsatisfactory result in that thecover must be positioned somewhere on the display table during theremoval of the food from the container and the moisture on the inside ofthe cover tends to soil the display table.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to prevent condensing moistureform forming on a clear plastic or glass cover of a container to therebypermit an individual to see the contents of the container. The presentinvention relates to the heating of the clear plastic or glass above thedew point. A typical application of the present invention would be inconjunction with a salad bar or any display of hot or cold foodproducts.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved byproviding a top cover to be disposed over a container that includes adisplay area formed in at least part of the top cover for permitting anindividual to view a product disposed beneath the top cover. A pluralityof individual reflective members are positioned on the display area. Byapplying heat to the individual reflective members a temperature of thedisplay area is selectively increased for preventing the formation ofmoisture that tends to condense on an inside portion of the top cover.Thus, a consumer is enabled to view the food product disposed beneaththe top cover.

In a first embodiment the individual reflective members are dark incolor on a top surface and are reflective on a lower surface forpermitting the dark color to raise the temperature of the display areawhile the reflective lower surface prevents heat from being radiated tothe product disposed beneath the top cover.

In a second embodiment, the individual reflective members are dark incolor on a top surface and are dark in color on a lower surface forpermitting the dark color on the top surface to raise the temperature ofthe display area while the dark color on the lower surface heats theproduct disposed beneath the top cover.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a lid of the present inventionwith strips disposed thereon wherein the lid is open;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a lid of the present inventionwith strips disposed thereon wherein the lid is closed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a lid of the present inventionwith circular strips disposed thereon; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a lid of the present inventionwith oval strips disposed thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention includes a topcover 10 that is disposed over a container 20. The container 20 ismounted within an aperture in a display table 30. The top cover 10 maybe constructed of glass or clear plastic 13 or a combination of glassand/or plastic together with a metal support structure. During normaluse, the top cover 10 is positioned on the container 20 and a consumerwishing to select a particular food product disposed within thecontainer 20 is able to view the food product through the glass or clearplastic. However, due to moisture condensing on the inside of the topcover 10, it is sometime difficult for a consumer to view the foodproduct disposed within the container 20.

The present invention provides thin stripes of material 14A-14J that arepositioned on the clear plastic or glass 13 so that a consumer may viewthe food product through the spaces provided between the strips ofmaterial 14A-14J. The strips of material 14A-14J may be constructed witha reflective surface on one side and a dark or black surface on theother. In a second embodiment, the strips of material 14A-14J may beconstructed with a dark or black surface on both sides of the stripes.

If it is desired to display cold food in the container 20, the clearplastic or glass 13 would have thin stripes of reflective material14A-14J applied thereto wherein the stripes are reflective on the bottomand dark or black on top. By shining a heat lamp on the top cover 10,heat would be drawn to the dark or black stripes 14A-14J to thus raisethe temperature of the clear plastic or glass 13 above the dew point.The shiny surface on the bottom of the striped material 14A-14J wouldnot radiate heat to the food because of the low rate of emissivity. Theheating of the striped material 14A-14J will prevent moisture fromcondensing on the outside of the top cover. Thus, a consumer is able toview the product disposed beneath the top cover 10.

If it is desired to display hot food in the container 20, clear plasticor glass 13 would have thin stripes of reflective material 14A-14Japplied thereto wherein the thin stripes are dark or black on both thebottom and the top. By shining a heat lamp on the top cover 10, heatwould be drawn to the dark or black stripes 14A-14J to thus raise thetemperature of the clear plastic or glass 13 above the dew point. Thebottom of the stripe being dark or black would cause the heat in theclear plastic or glass 13 to radiate onto the food so the heat lampwould heat both the clear plastic or glass 13 and the food. The heatingof the striped material 14A-14J will prevent moisture from condensing onthe inside of the top cover. Thus, a consumer is able to view theproduct disposed beneath the top cover 10.

It is understood that although the above description refers to stripes,any form. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the cover 100 is made of glass 113with thin stripes 114A-114F applied as circles on the viewing window113. A handle 112 is provided for raising or lowering the cover 100. Inaddition, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the cover 200 is made of clearplastic 213 with thin stripes 214A-214D applied as ovals on the viewingwindow 213. A handle 212 is provided for raising or lowering the cover200. It is to be understood that any geometric pattern for thereflective material that is applied to the clear plastic or glassviewing window 13, 113 or 213 would be acceptable.

It is to be understood that the cover 10, 100, 200 of the presentinvention may be readily removed and taken to a kitchen for cleaning. Inaddition, the cover 10, 100, 200 may be used not only in connection withsalad bars but also with chafing dishes, hot food lines, preparationtables, etc.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A top cover adapted to be disposed over a container comprising: a display area formed in at least part of said top cover for permitting an individual to view a product disposed beneath said top cover; and a plurality of individual reflective members positioned on said display area; wherein applying heat to said individual reflective members selectively increases a temperature of said display area for preventing the formation of moisture from condensing on the top cover and thus enable a consumer to view the product disposed beneath the top cover.
 2. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the individual reflective members are dark in color on a top surface and are reflective on a lower surface for permitting the dark color to raise the temperature of the display area while the reflective lower surface prevents heat from being radiated to the product disposed beneath the top cover.
 3. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the individual reflective members are dark in color on a top surface and are dark in color on a lower surface for permitting the dark color on the top surface to raise the temperature of the display area while the dark color on lower surface heats the product disposed beneath the top cover.
 4. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the reflective material is arranged on the display area in stripes.
 5. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the reflective material is arranged on the display area in circles.
 6. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the reflective material is arranged on the display area in ovals.
 7. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the top cover is constructed of glass and the display area is formed over the entire top cover.
 8. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the top cover is constructed of clear plastic and the display area is formed over the entire top cover.
 9. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the top cover is constructed of a metal frame with glass forming the display area in the top cover.
 10. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein the top cover is constructed of a metal frame with clear plastic forming the display area in the top cover.
 11. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein applying heat to said individual reflective members selectively increases said temperature of said display area for preventing the formation of said moisture from condensing on an inside portion of the top cover.
 12. The top cover according to claim 1, wherein applying heat to said individual reflective members selectively increases said temperature of said display area for preventing the formation of said moisture from condensing on an outside portion of the top cover.
 13. A method of preventing moisture from condensing on an inside portion of a top cover adapted to be disposed over a container comprising the following steps: providing a display area formed in at least part of said top cover for permitting an individual to view a product disposed beneath said top cover; providing a plurality of individual reflective members positioned on said display area; and applying heat to said individual reflective members for selectively increasing a temperature of said display area for preventing the formation of moisture from condensing on the top cover and thus enable a consumer to view the product disposed beneath the top cover.
 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the individual reflective members are applied with a dark color on a top surface and are reflective on a lower surface for permitting the dark color to raise the temperature of the display area while the reflective lower surface prevents heat from being radiated to the product disposed beneath the top cover.
 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the individual reflective members are applied with a dark color on a top surface and are dark in color on a lower surface for permitting the dark color on the top surface to raise the temperature of the display area while the dark color on lower surface heats the product disposed beneath the top cover.
 16. A method according to claim 13, wherein the step of applying heat to said individual reflective members for selectively increasing said temperature of said display area prevents the formation of said moisture from condensing on an inside portion of the top cover.
 17. A method according to claim 13, wherein the step of applying heat to said individual reflective members for selectively increasing said temperature of said display area prevents the formation of said moisture from condensing on an outside portion of the top cover. 